Arts of Islam

What is the purpose of studying any type of art form? Art is the mirror of any culture and reflects the principles as well as its history, from a certain time period. For decades, Islamic Art has been building its foundation and continues to produce limitless amounts of artwork. The development of the visual arts in Islam coincide with the secular and religious arts as they reflect use of geometric patterns, glazed ceramics, and inscriptions influenced by many Empires while Mysticism attempts to discover the true significance of symbols of Islamic traditions.

The beginnings of Islamic visual arts were introduced before the Dynastic Rules. This was a period of “rapid expansion” of Islamic art by the people who lived within any Islamic territory (page 8). The traditions of Islam flourished approximately around the 7th century over a vast geographic area extending from one side to the other side of the globe. The Islamic Empire, itself, was developed from Roman, Umayyad, Byzantine, Persian, and Central Asian influences and the visual arts of the Islamic regions evolved following the death of Prophet Mohammad. An example would be the “blue and white porcelain” introduced from the Chinese and duplicated as it was seen as rare (page 103). The richness associated with this architecture and design was adopted from around the world from a plethora of people. Also, the arts quick development was caused by the invasion and conflict by groups of people and the direction of Islamic art was determined politically, geographically, and sociologically. This form of art encompasses diversity well as it incorporates all of the unique traditions of the new Islamic Empire altogether.

The term “Islamic Art” raises much conflict as many correlate it...

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Due to the development of Islamic visual arts, Secular and Religious Art has enhanced and been presented as creation by God while Mysticism endeavors to determine the mystery and meaning of hidden messages in art. The influences of Islamic art stretched from Asia to Persia, geographically. These influences were adopted and developed into unique designs around the time of conflict and rivalry in the region by different communities. The religious art of Islam focused on the glory of God by including Arabic script, calligraphy, and sermons. Secular art was based more on everyday living and included objects such as cushions, bowls, and carpets that had geometrical patterns, glazed ceramics, and incorporated human and animal figures. Mysticism exists in Islam as much of the art is creates wonder such as the Quran by using symbols and the literary aspect as well.